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"Grey Space presents strands of bass music interspersed with lush, atmospheric ambient. The album is an exceptional exploration and mixture of divergent electronic sounds that leaves a lasting impression"
The thriving UK bass scene has seen its share of producers come and go, leaving momentary and lasting marks on the genre. Within the continually fascinating and shape-shifting crews throwing parties and creating community both in-person and online, there’s been a subtly seismic shift in certain circles.
Using bass, dubstep, and grime as the canvas for further sonic experiments has become the norm for producers like London’s Box5ive. With a handful of appearances on label compilations and one-off tracks for the likes of Panel, Well Street Records, and Comic Sans, Box5ive’s sound brims with potential and leaves the listener with curiosity for what they could do on a full-length.
Teaming up with ascendant Glaswegian imprint co:clear, Box5ive’s debut, ‘Grey Space‘, presents strands of bass music interspersed with lush, atmospheric ambient. The album is an exceptional exploration and mixture of divergent electronic sounds that leaves a lasting impression.
‘Grey Space’ floats between mostly soporific ambient pieces and mid-tempo bass tunes with ease, with the opening duo of “Rough Sleeper” and “Sell a Door” setting the tone. The former drifts among beatless keys and effects, creating a hypnagogic mirage that’s gentle and inviting; the latter doesn’t introduce heavy beats like a maximalist dubstep tune, but it adds a new dimension to Box5ive’s arsenal.
Listen closely to “Sell a Door” and it could work just as well without the percussion, showcasing the producer’s knack for utilising every element of his tracks. As presented it’s a subtly brisk song that brings to mind dark city streets slowly brought to life by the rising sun.
The best track of the already stellar bunch is “Sour Kiss”, a beautiful piece that floats along on delicate piano and synthesised strings. The song is a testament to the producer’s skill in crafting a compelling track out of minimal elements that flit in and out of the mix, repeating as the track progresses. Everything comes together in a way that transports the listener to an altered state that cradles the listener in a brief state of bliss.
While the lysergic ambient tracks showcase the producer’s range, the magic of ‘Grey Space’ lies in the way it incorporates those earth-shaking bass influences into the record. “Blind”, for instance, features skittery percussion that jumps in from the ethereal introduction. The sleek sheen placed on the grime and bass-indebted beats reflects the headphone friendly aspects of the album. It forgoes the dystopian, post-club vibe of those genres and offers a sound that lends itself to an amorphous nostalgia best suited for solitary listening.
The aesthetic of ‘Grey Space’ is a gorgeous hybrid of ambient and bass music that charts its own course and experiments with different forms. Box5ive fits in with the DIY, punk-like ethos of artists like Huerco S., his West Mineral Ltd imprint, and other tripped out labels such as 3XL and INDEX:Records: pushing ambient beyond the staid, placid tones of crystal strewn utopian retreats and further into a heady escape from the varied anxieties plaguing us every time we gaze out into the ever-warming environment and into our devices. It’s less music for airports as it is music for our scattered, unmoored psyches.
‘Grey Space’ is scheduled for release on 14th June via co:clear. Order a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
1. Rough Sleeper
2. Sell A Door
3. Sour Kiss
4. In Grey Space
5. Omni 74
6. Blind
7. First Name
8. Stone